How to properly stress test a iGPU

[brafu]

I'm having some issues with my new PC freezing and crashing during games, but not during any of the stress testing I have done, nor during regular use (ie. anything non-gaming). Since this is a new machine I'm not sure how to go about searching for the real issue.

Is testing a iGPU different than testing a discrete GPU? If not, then how do I go about properly stress testing my GPU to simulate what actually happens when I play one of my games (Thus far mostly Mass Effect 1/ME3/SC2) that isn't happening when I run a stress test?

I have tested the CPU to a fair degree and it seems fine, as well does the temp (even though it's higher than I would like, it's not caused any issue in stress testing). I also tested the RAM with the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool and got no errors.

So I seem to be left with the GPU or some sort of software issue that's effecting multiple games (or maybe the MB I guess.. unsure).

System Specs:

i5-3570k
Intel H 4000
ASRock Z75 Pro3
Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer 4GB (2 x 2GB)
CORSAIR CX430M 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE

Also, I ran OCCT overnight in full screen and everything seemed fine in the morning. The computer didn't crash and the test was still running strong.

 

[jaguarskx]

It could be the Intel iGPU graphic drivers. Did you try updating them?

 

[brafu]

It could be the Intel iGPU graphic drivers. Did you try updating them?

That was one of the first things I checked, and it's updated.

One thing that just seems odd to me is that it's not consistent in when my PC crashes. I can be playing a game during an intense scene (for that game) and it'll run fine with no hint of any issue. But then I could be just standing there talking to someone (in Mass Effect 1) and it'll freeze up and I'll need to hard reboot the PC. It's possible that the dialog scenes are more stressing to the GPU than the other parts, but it's not like it only crashing during those scenes, or even that it always crashes during them. It seems almost random.

I'm really leaning towards it being some sort of software issue that I'm just not seeing because of the inconsistency and because the stress testing I have done has shown absolutely no problems (minus higher temps than I want, but I am managing that for now).

I hate to do it, but I think I'm going to have to reinstall my games. When I made my new machine I simply copied my games over to the new system (ME, ME3, and SC2) instead of spending a few days downloading them all over again. I checked the games integrity and it seemed fine, but perhaps it's as simple as being an issue with the games themselves.

EDIT::

Also I can start ME up, load my game, and it can either freeze in a few min or run fine for hours.

 

[jaguarskx]

Yeah, re-installing might be a good idea. I had a laptop with an Intel HD 4000 graphic core for about 10 days. I installed ME3 on it just to give it s whirl. After finishing the install and I launched the game, it immediately crashed. I tried a few things like running in Win XP compatibility mode and a couple of other things. But in the end uninstalling and re-installing did the trick.

If you don't have Mass Effect 2, then I recommend you buy it. It's the best game in the trilogy. Check out Amazon, it think it sells for under $10 and prices seems to vary almost every other week.

 

[brafu]

Yeah, re-installing might be a good idea. I had a laptop with an Intel HD 4000 graphic core for about 10 days. I installed ME3 on it just to give it s whirl. After finishing the install and I launched the game, it immediately crashed. I tried a few things like running in Win XP compatibility mode and a couple of other things. But in the end uninstalling and re-installing did the trick.

If you don't have Mass Effect 2, then I recommend you buy it. It's the best game in the trilogy. Check out Amazon, it think it sells for under $10 and prices seems to vary almost every other week.

Thanks for the advice, I'm going to just bite the bullet and reinstall ME1 and see if it resolves the issue or not.

Yea, I have ME2 already, but I don't even have a DVD/BR drive in my machine yet, and since I actually purchased the disc at a store and not online (like with ME1/ME3) I can't play or install it yet lol

I'm doing another play through on the series so I can check out the other story arch's that I passed up on in the other 3-5 full play through.

 

[brafu]

Hmm... could this possibly be caused by a hard drive issue? Because I'm buying my pieces over the course of 3-4ish months (before I'll have everything I want) I put in a 80gb drive that was in a old desktop I had sitting around. The desktop was made around 07.

It suddenly dawned on me that considering all my stress testing didn't replicate the issue I'm having, that perhaps the fact that it happens during an actual game, where the drive is (I assume) actually being accessed more than during a stress test, might be the one factor I had not taken into account yet.

 

[jaguarskx]

I don't think it's a hard drive issue unless you are noticing problems outside of playing games.

 

[brafu]

I don't think it's a hard drive issue unless you are noticing problems outside of playing games.

No, everything runs perfectly outside of the games. The only time I have any issue with this computer is when I fire up a game.

 

[jaguarskx]

The only thing I can recommend is reinstall the games. Other than that try an older Intel HD graphics driver.

 

[brafu]

The only thing I can recommend is reinstall the games. Other than that try an older Intel HD graphics driver.

I'm re-downloading ME1 right now. I'll know if the install was the issue in about 6-12 hours lol

Afterwards, if the issue still isn't fixed, I'll try older drivers.

 

[jaguarskx]

Yeah, I prefer physical discs.

 

[brafu]

Ok, so I created ISO's of my ME2 discs and then mounted them on my new PC and I get the exact same freezing issues. I think I can rule out the games themselves being the issue since its happened in 4 games (SC2/ME1/2/3).

This is really frustrating and very annoying. I guess my next step is to try older drivers for my iGPU and see if it changes.